Fraud is something businesses have dealt with for as long as businesses have been around. In fact, there is a nearly 4000 year old clay tablet addressed to a man named Ea-nāṣir from Ancient Mesopotamia accusing him of selling sub-standard copper. These days, while fraud targets individuals and businesses only 2% of transactions processed in Canada are suspected as being fraudulent. Most fraudsters attempt to gain access to login credentials or impersonate someone the victim knows.
Fraud in restaurants is rare, with the fraud in B2B (Business-to-business) transactions taking place at twice the rate of fraud in B2C (Business-to-consumer) transactions. Usually when fraud occurs it can be settled within a week, with most businesses being fully reimbursed by their financial institution.
Another worry that some businesses have with digital payments is not getting their money on time. There have been high profile cases of payment providers holding onto businesses money -something that could be fatal in a cash flow based business like restaurants. After all, you have to pay your staff, vendors, and taxes on time.
Industries like online gambling, pharmaceuticals, and travel agencies are classified as high risk merchants and more often face holds and disputes over transactions. Restaurants are classified as low risk merchants due to smaller transactions, less liability and less disputes. Due to the nature of restaurants, issues with cash flows are uncommon, and most restaurants can expect to be paid on time.
So what about data breaches? After all Canada has laws surrounding privacy breaches defined as “the loss of, unauthorized access, or disclosure of, personal information” where offenders can face steep fines. All businesses in Canada need to be aware of how to properly use and store customer data. However, most businesses don’t store customer data themselves and instead rely on a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to keep track of things like customers names, emails, and transactions. When it comes to digital payments, most services don’t store customer information and reduce the risk to businesses and customers.
Here at FasTab we take fraud, cash flow, and data privacy very seriously. Refunds for transactions can be processed within 24 hours, and we work with restaurants to make sure risks are minimized during our onboarding process. We understand that cash flow is vital for restaurants and deliver payments consistently to our partners. In terms of data privacy, we securely gather a minimal amount of information, with credit card information never being saved. If you’re interested in learning how you can become a FasTab partner and safely take advantage of digital payments in your restaurant reach out to us at partners@fastabpayments.com or at www.fastabpayments.com
